Well, the season is about a week and a half from starting....thought it best to get the predictions going now so we all are on record.

I'll start.

Record: 52-30

This team is without a doubt a playoff team....but beyond that, who knows. That's how up in the air I believe the East is. This team has just as much a chance of being booted in the first round as they do in making the NBA Finals. Or an equal chance of being a #1/#2 seed or a #6/#7 seed or anything in between. In believing this, it should make for an exciting regular season as we try to position ourselves for a good seeding.

I really like this team....love the bench.....but have two issues that I think we'll have to address in-season with a trade or we won't go as far as we want. First, we need a legit PG. And, second, I still think we are missing a dominant interior defensive presence. Z's going to get the lion's share of minutes, and it ain't going to cut it.

If we had Ben Wallace in the middle and a legit PG, I believe this team is the best in the East hands down, and a legit title contender. We probably won't be able to get that guy downlow we need, so Roker will have to use Varejao and Pollard a lot more down the stretch and in the playoffs (like last year). Which isn't a bad thing.

But, I think (hope) a PG can be had by the trading deadline, as this will prove to be the team's achilles heel during the season.

Should be a fun and exciting year......but a disappointing run in the postseason as we can't quite live up to the 2006 run...Cavs get bounced in the first round of the playoffs. If that get that much-needed PG, then they go 7 games in Round 2 before being taken out by the Heat.

"If sport is to have any value at all, the road traveled, even when it leads to a dead end, should always be a trip worth taking. Without the pain, the champagne, when it finally flows, will have no taste."